Mission Impossible: Bridging the Gap

I discovered on my way back to Mobile this past weekend that the diversity that exists between my family & I might always be a hindrance to our relationship. It’s no longer the hurt that hinders (and believe me there was a lot of it). It is quite obviously the cultural divide that is currently the most difficult stumbling block to evade.

Let’s survey the chasm, shall we?!

-They go to church, I go the bar & drink with the same belief & conviction.
-They love living in the sticks, I was anxious to get back to the concrete.
-Proper works for them, I’m completely inappropriate.
-They read the Bible, Entertainment Weekly & US Weekly are god to me.
-They pray, I brunch.
-They think I’m stuck in a very long gay phase, I’m waiting for them to snap out of their delusional/religious phase.

But one thing has always remained clear in spite of the relational fog: adversity always accompanies authenticity & individuality. And all this brings me to the simple, yet profound, realization that allowed me to have a good time this weekend:

They’re being them & I’m being me…& that is good enough for me, if for no other reason than it has to be.

The "take-home" from the weekend: what works for them, works for them and what works for me, works for me.

Moving onto some of my favorite moments from the weekend:

*On the plane ride into MOB, all the elderly lady behind me could talk about was her need to find the nearest liquor store in relation to the airport…she’s my kind of lady, but I fortunately remembered my flask.

*At the dinner table on Friday evening, the gentleman sitting to my right (my “cousin”’s husband” asked my father, “how’s your tractor doing?”, after which I interrupted, “has it been sick?” The convo later turned to armadillos & my father’s attempt to trap them in the backyard, but I won’t elaborate…you get the idea.

*While waiting for our (Victoria’s family & I) table at the Original Oyster House after UM’s graduation, I spotted a familiar face belonging to this guy with whom I graduated high school. I initiated the acknowledgement & he in trun called me Mark...LOL...I was only your class president, dumb ass…I can’t wait ‘til the reunion & I know you can’t either!

*We ate at Bonefish Grill for Al’s b-day on Saturday night & the dish I got was nothing short of amazing (grilled chicken topped with goat cheese, spinach, etc.). I was in heaven & walked out of there feeling like fat people feel all the time.

*I walked into a church & it didn’t crumble…PRAISE JESUS, there are still people out there more fucked up than me!

*I picked up Chelsea Handler’s book, My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands. I’m already more than half-way through…brilliant.

Shout-outs go to: V (congrats again), C & E (wish we could’ve hung out longer than 10 minutes), & L (welcome back to the states).

And of course, pics:

Me & V

Me, L, Al (my sis) & L

as in George Washington Watts (my late grandfather)

The '69 Chevy my grandfather left me and my sis in his will

Random Beat-Up Truck (that I couldn't resist shooting)